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Alumni Updates

SOPHI BUETENS, Journalism , 1985

January 7, 2019

Sophi Buetens, Journalism, 1985, attended HSU from 1980 as a freshman through 1985 with one year on the Cal State international program in Madrid, Spain. Since then she has worked as a journalist and elementary and secondary school teacher (Spanish). Her two adult children live in Oakland. One is a software engineer and the other is studying at Berkeley to be a science teacher. She and her husband were thrilled to move back to Arcata after many years in the Bay Area.

Shayna Nagel, Social Work Minor Ethnic Studies, 2014

January 4, 2019

Shayna Nagel, Social Work, 2014, graduated from the University of Michigan with a master’s degree in Social Work with an emphasis in IP health. Since graduating, she has worked at a foster care agency in Los Angeles where she created a placement program for foster youth with health issues. She has also worked at a children’s hospital in Los Angeles after hours in the house and ER. She is now following her dreams by working with people of all ages and backgrounds in hospice care.

Maria Cecilila Avila, Biological Sciences , 1985

January 2, 2019

Maria Cecilila Avila, 1985, is living in Chile.

JT Hayes, Nursing , 1994

December 29, 2018

JT Hayes, Nursing, 1994, retired from full-time nursing in 2018 but still teaches CNA classes and does p.m. shifts for Help for Health Hospice in Riverton, Wyoming where he lives with his wife, 17-year-old granddaughter and four dogs.

Jennifer Werthman, Politics , 2017

December 13, 2018

Jennifer Werthman, Politics, 2017, was engaged in January 2018 and had a baby boy named Jack on June 30. She began substitute teaching and will obtain a credential soon to become a high school government teacher!

Cynthia Glasgow-Ragus, Social Work, 1980/82, retired after teaching elementary school for 34 years to travel the world and check off items on her bucket list.

Dylan Karl, Wildlife , 2016

November 9, 2018

Dylan Karl, Wildlife, 2016, completed two years of service as a Peace Corps environment volunteer in Guyana, South America. Karl volunteered as a community conservation promotor. Now that his service is complete, he is looking into going to Bowling Green State University for its Leisure and Tourism program.

Christine Messer, Wildlife , 2013

November 7, 2018

Christine Messer (Orlowski), Wildlife, 2013, worked for the California Department of Food and Agriculture before deciding to continue her education. She obtained a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies from California State University Fullerton in 2017. While completing her graduate degree she simultaneously worked for the County of Santa Barbara in the Sustainability Division. She currently works for the City of Lompoc as the city’s recycling coordinator. She married Kirk Messer (’11, Biology, Zoology) in October 2017. They live in Santa Maria, California and recently returned to HSU for a visit after five years away.

Gene Blankenbaker, Forestry & Wildland Resources , 1977

November 7, 2018

Gene Blankenbaker, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1977, is retiring in January 2019 after over 41 years of service with the federal government. He spent approximately 2 years with the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resource Division as a groundwater hydrologist, and over 39 years with the U.S. Forest Service in a variety of locations in California, Washington D.C., Arizona, Wisconsin and New Mexico, in positions that included hydrologist, forester, district ranger, forest supervisor, deputy regional forester, and deputy director of human resources for the agency.

Zachary Haitkin, International Studies & Spanish Language, 2010

November 6, 2018

Zachary Haitkin, International Studies, 2010, is currently residing in the city of San Francisco working at the headquarters for the rideshare company, Lyft. He began his career here over 4.5 years ago by making the transition from a Lyft driver to customer support associate. Since then, he has worked on the Operations team and led the effort to build a Competitive Intelligence network in an effort to improve Lyft’s visibility into what competitors are doing at a market level. Most recently, he has moved over to Lyft’s Growth team as a Project Manager to help lead the charge in the localization of the Lyft platform into Spanish and other languages.